Bosmer/Wood Elves
Bosmer, or Wood Elves, hail from the province of Valenwood (South-West part of Tamriel).
Rejecting the formalities of the civilized world, the Bosmer discarded lavish living for a life in the wilderness, among nature, the trees, and animals. In fact, their major cities are actually located in giant walking trees that roam the forest province of Valenwood.
Personality + Traits:
- They are relatively nimble and quick in body compared to their more "civilized" Altmeri cousins. Their agility makes them well-suited as scouts and thieves.
- A quick-witted folk, and many pursue successful careers in scholarly pursuits or trading.
- They have many natural and unique abilities; notably, they can command simple-minded creatures and have a nearly chameleon-like ability to hide in forested areas.
- Bosmer live two to three times as long as humans; with a 200-year-old Bosmer being old and a 300-year-old Bosmer being very, very old.
- The Bosmer are one of the smallest races in Tamriel with males being smaller than females.
- They are born with skin colors ranging from light brown to pale tan to light green.
- Some Bosmer also may have horns.
- Bosmer are also relatively prone to producing offspring, and as a result, they outnumber all other Mer on Tamriel.
- Some Bosmer have been known to file their teeth to sharp points.
- It is common among the Bosmer to wear decorative antlers on their foreheads, although rarely, individuals with real, magically-grown antlers can also be encountered.
- The best archers in all of Tamriel, the Bosmer snatch and fire arrows in one continuous motion; they are even rumored to have invented the bow.
- Many in the forests of Valenwood follow the tenets of the Green Pact. These "Green Pact Bosmer" are religiously carnivorous and cannibalistic, and do not harm the vegetation of Valenwood, though they are not averse to using wooden or plant-derived products created by others.
- Some primitive Bosmer practice cannibalism upon their enemies.
- The Bosmer greatly value diversity. Their respect for life's many facets is inherent in many of their old sayings, like "One mans miracle is another mans accident".
- Though they refrain from smoking plants, many enjoy smoking bugs from bone pipes.
- The Rite of Theft is a cherished Bosmeri custom, though one which outsiders have trouble appreciating. The Bosmer steal from each other, and upon return of the stolen item, they demand a boon commensurate to the item's worth.
- Often when making contracts with the tribes of Valenwood, one will be expected to put up some sort of collateral to ensure equal treatment between unequal partners, such as when a mundane individual is dealing with a powerful mage. In traditional Bosmeri villages, this involves the more powerful party giving the weaker a loved one as a 'pact-hostage'. Should the contracted party complete their task, the pact-hostage will be returned. If they fail to uphold their end of the contract, the pact-hostage will be killed, cooked, and served up to them as Unthrappa, or Atonement. Eating the Unthrappa represents eating one's failure.
- Bosmeri tribes in the wilds of Valenwood still practice the tradition of the "Mourning War". When a tribe member is slain, he or she is symbolically replaced via a hostage-taking raid on a neighboring tribe. If the deceased was an especially powerful or prestigious member of the tribe, multiple captives may be taken to replace them. The captive or captives undergo a period of physical torture, supposedly to test their worthiness, and then are joyously welcomed into the clan. Traditionally, the victim was given the deceased tribe member's position, possessions, and family, though this practice may be rarely honored in modern ages.
- Though the Bosmer first united under the Camoran Dynasty, this form of governance has been called a "loose hegemony". There are in fact many leaders throughout Valenwood who wield varying degrees of authority, such as the treethanes. Their territory has sometimes been referred to as the "Valenwood Nations", perhaps because of the autonomy practiced by various leaders.
- The Silvenar is the Voice of the People for the Bosmer. While often viewed by outsiders as a title for the Bosmer's political representative for foreign affairs, the Silvenar is more than a mere politician. Each person who bears the title is thought of as merely the Silvenar's aspect. The Silvenar represents the Bosmer people legally, physically, and emotionally.
- The Green Lady represents the physicality of the Bosmer and has the raw physicality and passion of their primal past. If the Silvenar dies, his Green Lady's bestial nature is irrevocably unleashed, and her fury turned on all those involved until she joins him in death.
- Their major cities are actually located in giant walking trees that roam the forest province of Valenwood. To this day, they have little more than foot paths connecting their tiny settlements in Valenwood's sparsely populated forests.
- The elves of Valenwood have always stood ready to defend themselves against aggression, and have done so on many occasions. They often rely on their forest-coupling skills to make use of guerrilla tactics. The title of their most famous poem, the Meh Ayleidion, means "The One Thousand Benefits of Hiding".
- The Bosmer venerate many deities. In fact, few Bosmer outside the Empire accept the limitation of Divines to a mere eight or nine. Most Bosmer claim direct descent from Auri-El, though Y'ffre the Storyteller is their most important deity. While the Time Dragon is the king of the gods, they venerate Y'ffre as the spirit of "the now".
- Greenspeakers are mages who dedicate their lives to working in and alongside the Green itself. They use their spells to guide and enhance the growth of trees and plants, and can create furniture and housing for their people in doing so.
- The Bosmer also venerate Arkay, Xarxes, Mara (who they consider to be the wife of Auri-El), and Stendarr. The God of Toil, Z'en, is the Bosmeri god of payment in kind. His origins are mysterious, as is his place in the cosmic order. The Bosmer are one of the few who worship the trickster Baan Dar, the trickster spirit of thieves and beggars they apparently borrowed from the Khajiit.
- There are many other deities with significant Bosmer cults, such as Hircine.
- They also worship the moon gods Jone and Jode.
- Ancient stories of the supernatural, enigmatic Wilderking abound in Greenshade.
- Like the Nords, the trickster spirit Herma-Mora appears in their legends (and they insist he is not to be confused with the Daedra Hermaeus Mora)
- In a culture replete with trickster spirits, they do not forget the greatest trickster of all: Lorkhan.
Bosmer and Other Races:
Language + Names:
Bosmeris is the language of the bosmer of Valenwood. There are at least two main forms of it, but most likely many isolated tribes have developed their own forms of Bosmeris. Dialects number in hundreds.
- Bosmer seem to be the most pacifistic of all the modern races on Tamriel, as they have never instigated war with other nations (leading some more militant cultures to criticize them as cowards), though they have been accused of needlessly escalating some conflicts. They have never found a tried and true ally in any other Tamrielic nation. Mistrust has been engendered by the ritual cannibalism they practice, and it's often difficult for them to adjust their lifestyles to the expectations of other races and cultures.
- Bosmer are heavily dependent on good relations and trade with other races, as the Green Pact forces them to import the timber needed to make their homes, arrows, and other wooden instruments. Their own resources for trade include hides, river pearls, and finger-bone charms made from the Magically-charged hands of their dead wizards.
- They have attempted to accommodate other races in Valenwood throughout history, though many remained wary of outlander encroachments into their home.
- Other races are generally welcomed in most of Valenwood, though most foreigners stay in large cities. Travelers are encouraged to take care when imbibing drinks of fermented milk which are popular among the Bosmer, as non-Bosmer may have adverse reactions to them.
- The Bosmer share Valenwood with the Imga and so-called "Wood Orcs", along with the many beasts of the forest, including Centaurs.
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